Dual Handled Screed Board Apparatus

ABSTRACT

A screed board for grading wet concrete comprising an elongated screed beam having a pair of spaced apart handles each having first and second ends where the first end of each handle is angularly attached to the beam and each handle comprises an elongated shaft having a hand grip fixed to and protruding from the top of the shaft proximate its top end, and a substantially semi-circular band secured to the top of the shaft at its top end.

The present invention relates generally to a tool for grading and leveling wet concrete.

BACKGROUND

Handles for concrete leveling screed boards and well known implementations to avoid the concrete finisher having to work on his knees pulling the board over the wet concrete. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,727,279 to Pike, Jr. discloses a single handle connected angularly to the back side of a triangular shape grading head. In U.S. Pat. No. 8,016,517 Pardue discloses a paired set of handles attached to a board forming a concrete screed. A more complex screed board apparatus having a harness to secure the apparatus to the user and handles to allow the user to move the screed board in shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,449,845 to Carrillo. The problem with these and other screed boards having handles is twofold. The prior art devices are structurally complex considering the simplicity of the task of grading concrete. The structures of the prior art do not provide the user the necessary control of the screed board and do not provide the ability of the user to use the board as a jitter-bug to manually vibrate the wet concrete.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a simply constructed concrete screed board that is usable by a single standing operator and is easy to manipulate and control for all necessary and desirable wet concrete grading and leveling operations.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The, present invention of a dual handled screed board comprises an elongated rigid beam to which is attached a pair of spaced apart handles each of which includes an elongated shaft having a top surface to which is fixed a hand grip that protrudes from the shaft at a point distant from the distal end of the shaft that is substantial the same as the length of an adult's forearm. A substantially semi-circular band is secured to the surface of the shaft at its distal end which band is intended to support the user's forearm just below the elbow.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the screed board of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of one of the pair of handles attached to the beam of the screed board.

FIG. 3 is a shortened front view of the screed board beam and the pair of handles attached to the beam.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a user grasping the handles of the screed board and pulling it across wet concrete to effect the grading and leveling of the concrete.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The screed board 5 of the present invention includes a rigid elongated beam 7 preferably constructed of a light-weight aluminum tube of about 2 inches by 4 inches. As shown particularly in FIGS. 2 and 3, attached to the back or rear side 8 of the beam 7 is a pair of handle shafts 10 and 12, also preferably constructed of tubular aluminum. Hand grips 15 and 17 are attached to the handle shafts at a point below the distal ends of the shafts a distance substantially equal to the length of an adult forearm. Each hand grip protrudes at right angles from the top surfaces of the shaft to which it is attached, as shown in FIG. 2. Fixed to the top surface of each shaft at its distal end is a substantially semi-circular forearm supporting band 20 and 22. “Substantially,” in the context of this disclosure, means that the bands need not be a semi-circle of exactly 180 degrees but may be between 120 degrees and 180 degrees, the curvature of the band being sufficient to cradle and support the forearm 24 of the user 25 just below the elbow.

Operation of the screed board is illustrated in FIG. 5 where the worker is grasping the hand grips 15 and 17 with his hands and his forearms 24 are supported by the bands 20 and 22. The combination of the hand grips and the supporting bands provides excellent control of the beam 7 to grade and level the wet concrete 30. The beam 7 is supported at its ends by the concrete forms 32 and 34. In many instances of grading the concrete it is desirable to subject the concrete beneath the screed to vibration or pulsing in order to subvert the aggregate and develop of smooth surface. The distance between the supporting bands and the hand grip on each handle provides a force moment arm that is sufficient to supply leverage for the user to slightly raise the beam away from the concrete during the screeding process. Rapid repetitions of lifting the beam from the concrete and letting if fall back to the concrete surface result in “jitter-bugging” the beam 7, thus providing manually induced vibration of the concrete below the beam. 

What is claimed is: 1-3. (canceled)
 4. A screed board comprising, an elongated rigid beam of rectangular cross section having a flat rear side, a pair of spaced apart handles each having first and second ends where the first end of each handle is angularly attached to the flat rear side of the beam, each handle comprising, a straight elongated tubular shaft having top and bottom surfaces, a tubular rod rigidly fixed to and protruding perpendicularly from the top surface of the shaft proximate its second end, and a substantially semi-circular band having an open side secured to the top surface of the shaft at its second end and where the open side faces away from the top surface of the shaft. 